Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Rich and sweet!
Texture: Perfectly moist, fluffy, and tender with luscious chocolate frosting.
Ease: Pretty quick & easy for a homemade cake. I won’t use box mix again with this recipe!
Pros: My new go-to cake recipe. Perfect cake for any birthday!
Cons: None, really.
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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I have fond memories of my dad making yellow cake recipes with chocolate fudge frosting for special occasions.
That’s definitely where I get my sweet tooth from, but my dad isn’t much of a scratch baker. Those cakes were always box mixes paired with the little tub of premade frosting with who-knows-what added in to keep it shelf stable.
Still, as a kid, I loved those yellow cakes.
Now as an adult… I find them shockingly sweet and artificial tasting.
But I will say, I still like the fluffy, moist texture of those box yellow cake mixes. I wanted to create a classic yellow cake recipe that felt like those cakes I grew up with but with much better flavor. I think I’ve finally discovered it!
Honestly, it took about 7 tries to get this yellow cake recipe right over the course of 6 months. Layer cake is a hard recipe to want to test repeatedly in a short period of time. What are you supposed to do with all those mediocre leftover cake slices?!
So I went back to the drawing board and decided to start with my Best Birthday Cake as the base since that recipe is so well received. Where that cake texture is tighter and more delicate, I wanted this yellow cake to be a little looser and more moist like box mix.
I got rid of the egg separation method from that recipe, which involves whipping the egg whites, to get a richer texture and an easier process. More eggs + yolks, more butter, and a touch of sour cream help round everything out in this recipe. And of course, there is lots of chocolate frosting on top.
I hope you love it!
How to Make the BEST Homemade Yellow Cake Recipe
Classic Yellow Cake Recipe Ingredients:
- Bleached cake flour – avoid using all-purpose flour or DIY cake flour substitutions. They simply don’t work as well. Check out my Cake Flour 101 article here to understand why. The best thing to use in this recipe is bleached cake flour (like the Swans Down brand).
- Baking powder & baking soda – these leavening agents help the cake rise properly. Learn more about the differences between baking soda and powder here.
- Fine salt – just enough to balance out the sweetness of this yellow cake.
- Butter – use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt used in the batter.
- Granulated sugar – sweetens and moistens the cake.
- Eggs – 2 large eggs and 2 large egg yolks add richness and moisture.
- Pure vanilla extract – it’s not yellow cake without the aroma and flavor that vanilla provides!
- Sour cream or plain full fat yogurt – tenderizes and adds flavor.
- Whole milk – using whole milk will help to create a tender and moist cake as well. Whatever you do, don’t use skim milk.
How do I make MOIST & TENDER cake?
I highly advise weighing your flour when making cake. I always use my digital kitchen scale to weigh flour, but if you don’t have one use the “spoon and level” method to measure with measuring cups.
Avoid any baking substitutions! The cake flour and whole milk help create a moist and tender cake. All the whole eggs + egg yolks add richness and moisture. The sour cream also tenderizes as well as adding more flavor.
How to Properly Mix Cake Batter
- A stand mixer fitted with a regular paddle attachment is definitely the easiest way to mix up this batter, though you could use a hand mixer if you prefer. Start by creaming the butter + sugar together. There are two keys here: use butter at COOL room temperature and scrape down the bowl and paddle often (even if you’re using an attachment that “scrapes” as it blends).
- This batter is very rich. It uses a lot of eggs and yolks, as well as whole cream and a touch of sour cream. That means you may need to beat slightly longer after each group of ingredients to really make sure it’s all incorporated. It’s very important your refrigerated ingredients are all at room temperature.
- When you beat in the last ingredient which is the sour cream, it may look a little curdled. Just scrape down the bowl and continue beating on low speed until it comes together like the batter photo above.
How Long to Cream Butter & Sugar:
Every minute matters when it comes to creaming butter and sugar for baking. Creaming butter and sugar can mean the difference between a heavy, leaden cake or a light, tender, and fluffy cake!
Perfectly creamed butter and sugar has lightened in color and has peaks and valleys in its texture, giving it that ‘fluffy’ appearance. The sugar appears to be dissolved, but when you rub the mixture between your fingers you’ll still feel the sugar granules. I’ve found perfectly creamed butter to be around 3 minutes for me and my mixer in my kitchen, but this will vary for every baker. Check out my How to Cream Butter & Sugar article for more.
What are the best cake baking pans?
Never use dark colored cake pans. They tend to overcook the edges, making them too brown and dry.
My favorite cake pans are definitely my Fat Daddio’s pans. They bake evenly and clean up easily!
Can I use a 9-inch pan instead?
This recipe calls for 8-inch pans, which is what will work best. You can also use 9-inch if that’s what you have. Your cake layers will be thinner. Just shave about 5 minutes to the baking time.
Can I make cupcakes with this recipe?
Yes, this recipe will make about 24 standard cupcakes. Bake in lined cupcake pans for about 17 to 20 minutes. Check out my full guide for how to convert cake into cupcakes!
Are there high altitude adjustments for baking cake?
If you’re baking at a high altitude, you’ll probably want to make some adjustments to this recipe. Since I live at sea level, I can only recommend following the advice in King Arthur Flour’s guide here.
BEST Frosting for Yellow Cake Recipe: Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!
For this recipe I absolutely ADORE using my Best Ever Chocolate Buttercream recipe. It’s American buttercream that literally tastes, feels, and looks as close to the more difficult Swiss Meringue Buttercream that I’ve ever experienced. It uses two secret ingredients and 1 unusual technique to get those results, so I highly recommend you check out that recipe post here.
You can also use my Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe to frost this cake instead.
Or use my Best Buttercream Guide to make any flavor or variation you want to accompany this yellow cake!
How can I make cake ahead of time?
Wrap unfrosted cooled cake layers completely in several layers of plastic wrap. Place inside a freezer bag. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge. Don’t defrost at room temperature or you will end up with mushy sticky cake.
How to store cake:
Cover with a cake keeper and store at room temperature for up to 8 hours then refrigerate. The buttercream acts as a kind of protective barrier to keep the cake inside soft and fresh. The sugar in the buttercream acts as a preservative to prevent the dairy from spoiling at room temperature. But after 8 hours I typically like to refrigerate layer cakes just to keep it safe. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.
My Favorite Yellow Layer Cake Tools:
- Fat Daddio 8-inch cake pans – my FAVORITE cake pans because they release easily and are quick to clean.
- Pre-Cut Parchment Rounds with Flaps (these make such easy work of ensuring your cake won’t stick!!)
- Large offset spatula – perfect for spreading frosting on for a beautiful cake.
- An oven thermometer and kitchen scale are the most important tools in any baker’s kitchen!
More Cake Recipes:
- Best Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Best Birthday Cake Recipe (features a more delicate white cake base)
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
- Angel Food Cake Recipe
- Funfetti Sheet Cake
Science of Baking Articles:
- How to Prevent Cakes & Cupcakes From Sinking
- Everything You Need to Know About Sugar in Baking
- How to Measure Flour
- How to Convert Cake into Cupcakes (and Cupcakes into Cake!)
- Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda
Best Yellow Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (254 grams) bleached cake flour, measured correctly
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (57 grams) sour cream or plain full fat yogurt, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 Batch Best Chocolate American Buttercream
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter, flour, and line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment circles.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, egg yolks, and the vanilla one at a time, beating well between additions until combined. If the mixture looks separated, just keeping beating until emulsified. Beat in the sour cream until combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the whole milk, beginning and ending with the flour, mixing just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 20 minutes in pans before turning out onto a cooling rack.
Assemble the cake:
- Place one cake layer on a cake turntable or cake stand. Spread about a third of the frosting in an even layer all over, pushing it out over the edge just slightly. Place the other cake layer upside-down onto the frosting so that the top of the cake is nice and flat. With an offset spatula, spread the remaining frosting evenly all over the cake, smoothing the edges. Serve or cover and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Let come to room temperature for an hour before serving.
Recipe Notes
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Very disappointed. Made it twice and both times it overflowed over the 8 in cake pans and sunk both times. I have made numerous cakes and never had had one sink like this. I should have read the reviews before I tried it a second time.
Hi Jill! There are so many reasons why a cake can collapse. The first reason might be pan size and type. I don’t recommend going less than 2 1/2 inches deep, I always use a 3″ for more flexibility, just to be safe. I’d also make sure you’re only filling the pans 3/4 full with batter. The most common reasons: expired baking powder/baking soda (Tessa has an article here on how to check), incorrect measurement of ingredients, overbeating the batter in the last stage, incorrect/inconsistent oven temperature, underbaking the cake, opening the oven door too early, etc. I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer to verify that your oven temperature is accurate (most home ovens aren’t – it’s very surprising!) as well as using a digital scale to measure your ingredients if you don’t already use one. I know this is a lot of information, but hopefully if one of these is tweaked, it’ll help next time. I really hope you give this recipe another try as it’s so delicious when it turns out!
Can a Bundt cake pan be used for this recipe?
Hi LaTonya! We haven’t tried that, sorry! This recipe was written for two 8-inch cake pans. Let us know if you give it a try!
hello! i love all of your recipes, guides, tips, tricks, and well you ofcourse!
would you be able to do a marble cake with this recipe, but splitting up batter and adding some cocoa powder to it? i know that you have to be careful as you don’t want to add too much dry ingredients as it affects the cake.
thanks so much for everything!
Hi Elyse! We haven’t tried that, and cocoa is a very drying ingredient, so it would take some tinkering to turn some of this batter into a chocolate cake. If you simply add cocoa without other adjustments, the resulting cake would be very dry. Instead, I suggest making a half batch of Tessa’s Best Yellow Cake recipe, and a half batch of Tessa’s Best Chocolate Cake? You could try mixing the batters, but we haven’t tried this ourselves, so I can’t tell you how well this will work! Alternatively, I recommend making a layer of each cake, so every bite will contain both vanilla and chocolate cakes – they just won’t be baked together (and pickier guests can just eat the top or bottom half of the cake!). I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes if you give any of these suggestions a try! 🙂
I wished I would have read the reviews prior to trying this recipe because these cakes did not come out moist and also collapsed…
Hi Candi! I’m sorry to hear that your cake didn’t turn out! I’d love to try to help you troubleshoot this issue and figure out what happened, so you can make the perfect cake next time! Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe? Do you live at a higher altitude? What kind/size of cake pan did you use? There are so many reasons why a cake can sink that Tessa actually wrote an article about How to Prevent Cakes and Loaves from Sinking. I’d highly recommend reading through the article linked, fingers crossed it was just a minor detail that was missed. Please let me know if you have any questions, and I really hope you give this recipe another try!
This was absolutely the best yellow cake I’ve ever made. I usually prefer white but,my friend had been begging so I caved.
This cake has the perfect crumb and the perfect crumb. I did use another buttercream chocolate recipe that I prefer.
Thanks for a wonderful recipe, Margie
Hola Chef tengo una consulta quiero hacer esta receta de pastel amarillo pero necesito que quede mucho más húmeda, podría sustituir una parte de mantequilla por aceite? Si es posible en que cantidad seria para no afectar la receta…gracias de antemano por tu respuesta
Hi Xiomara! This is already a super moist cake, with the extra egg yolks and sour cream in there! Give it a try – you won’t be disappointed 🙂
Hi, is it possible to halve this recipe?? It’s too much cake for the 2 of us
Hi Lyly! Yes, you can halve this recipe and just make one 8-inch cake! 🙂
Hands down my FAVOURITE recipe. It is amazing on its own, amazing assembled into a pretty cake with fresh cream, and it is truly a no-fail recipe. Comes out perfect every single time. Family and friends, colleagues and even strangers love it whenever I bake and bring anywhere! Thank you so much for this wonderful wonderful recipe!
Hi Juliana! So thrilled to hear that you love this cake so much! Your comment made our day!! 🙂
My son has an egg allergy. I made this cake in my 4 inch cake pans and substituted the eggs, yokes, and sour cream for 1 cup of full fat yogurt. The cakes came out delicious! Wonderful crumb, moist and great flavor.
So happy those substitutions worked for you, Bryan!
Can I use this receipe as a sheet cake if I doubled the receipe according to pan size
We haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work! Of course, you’ll need to adjust the bake time. Let us know how it goes if you give it a try.
I have made this recipe twice and both times the batter collapsed. I think the three teaspoons is waaayyy too much. Both batches expanded and collapsed. I have spent 50 dollars in ingredients and its going in the garbage. They taste great but they are unusable.
So sorry to hear of your collapsed cakes, Tori! Do you bake at high altitude? If so, and you find that you normally need to make adjustments to a recipe for it to turn out, then I would stick to whatever you normally do. You can also check out King Arthur Baking’s article here for more help. If you don’t bake at high altitude, there’s a multitude of reasons as to why a cake can collapse. The most common reasons include: expired baking powder/baking soda (we have an article here on how to check), overbeating the batter in the last stage, underbaking the cake, or opening the oven door too early. If you don’t have an oven thermometer to verify that your oven temperature is accurate (most home ovens aren’t), I’d recommend getting one, as well as using a digital scale to measure your ingredients if you don’t already use one. I hope that helps, please let me know if I can help troubleshoot further.
I loved the cake. It did not sink. The problem is I did not make your frosting because my grandson only likes vanilla everything and it was his birthday. I love Swiss meringue frosting so I made it from a Martha Stewart recipe. She said you could refrigerate it overnight and it would be ok the next day. We took it out and tried to mix it up but it turned to scrambled egg butter and separated liquid egg whites.
I know it’s not your recipe but you’re so good at responding that I thought I’d give it a try. I would appreciate your input because I don’t really like the sweetness of American Buttercream.
Hi Claire! I’m so sorry to hear that! Curdling is a common issue we’ve come across when refrigerating Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but it can easily be fixed! Try melting a little of the buttercream in the microwave next time, about 1/4 cup, and add it back to the remaining buttercream while mixing on high with the whisk attachment. Switch to the paddle attachment on low for about 5-7 minutes to smooth it out and get rid of any extra bubbles, but that should fix it right up! Also, we’re with you that American Buttercream is way too sweet, but I’d love for you to try our recipe! Tessa nailed it, I eat it straight from the bowl!